Chapter 219 The Empress
"That's right, not as good as the best, but better than the worst."
The most important thing in life is to be content, and to accept the fact that one's eldest son is not good enough. Anyway, the couple didn't have any ambitions, and being able to have a safe family was already a great blessing.
"Are you attracted to someone's daughter? Tell me about it and let me know if our Yao is worthy of her."
Old Jiang immediately perked up.
"Not long ago, many people asked me about the marriages of our two sons. I was thinking that the little girl from the Sun family might be a good match. Why don't you take some time to go and see her someday?"
"The Sun family? Is she the chubby girl who always likes to quarrel with Yao-ge'er?"
"Yes, yes, yes. Old Sun mentioned this to me before, but I didn't agree right away. If you think it's not possible, let's look at Old Shen's family. Old Chen and Old Zhou both have daughters. If that doesn't work, I'll ask Old Qin..."
The Jiang couple sat in the house, worrying about all the big and small matters for their children.
The emperor and empress, who also received the good news from Jiang Wan, were beaming with joy in Fengming Palace.
"You said that little bastard, the fourth brother, is about to become a father! They are a completely different couple. Wife, do you think we should send someone over?"
Taking advantage of this great news, the emperor ran to the queen and showed his courtesy, and he was really favored by her.
"No need. Although your son is unreliable, my sister is still very steady."
The emperor's mouth twitched. Whose mother are you talking about? But he didn't dare to talk nonsense after finally getting his wife's smile.
"You're right. You've taught the fourth son's wife well. She's not like the fourth son, who would mess around. She's someone we can trust."
He followed behind blindly and agreed with a clear conscience, and finally got a smile of approval from the Queen.
"Your Majesty, these two children are young and inexperienced, and Dongling Prefecture is poor and remote, with few good things to offer. Why don't you grant the fourth child's request and allow them to return?"
It's a good opportunity for Wan Jie'er to see her sister off, and I can also teach her some little things about raising children. If I am gone one day in the future, I won't have any regrets."
"What nonsense?"
The emperor looked at the queen lying in bed. Although her face was made up, it couldn't hide her haggard look. The pain in his eyes surged up and was forcibly suppressed.
"If you miss the fourth brother and his wife, I'll let them come back. It just so happens that the fourth brother's wife is pregnant, so why not let her give birth in the capital before returning? That way, the censors won't be able to say anything, and the children can spend more time with you, okay?"
The queen's eyes flickered with some obvious expectation.
"May I?"
"Your man is the emperor. If I say yes, then it's fine. Who else dares to say anything?"
He reached out to brush the two strands of hair at the end of his wife's eyebrows, but she dodged him without a trace. His fingers paused awkwardly for a moment, then quickly dropped them.
"Don't worry about this and that all the time. The children have grown up and are now fathers. How long can we, as their parents, keep worrying about them?
Let go when it's time to let go. Let your children and grandchildren deal with their own problems. Let them deal with it themselves! We won't care, okay?"
These last few words were spoken with a hint of caution, and the Queen began to laugh.
"Isn't this what my father advised my mother back then? How did you learn it?"
The emperor also laughed.
"My father-in-law is the one who truly understands life. Think about it, isn't what he said the most reasonable thing? If we had listened to him earlier, how could we have been so exhausted for them?"
"Your Majesty, be careful with your words!"
The queen advised helplessly, and the emperor, who had come to his senses, nodded repeatedly.
"Yes, yes, I am the emperor now, so I must be careful with my words. Anyway, that's the truth, just understand it in your heart."
"Your Majesty, what you said does make sense, but you shouldn't just advise me, you have to listen too. When you were young, fighting in battles and crawling on ice and snow damaged your foundation. Now that you're older, you need to take better care of yourself. The medicinal food I prepared for you, you must eat it on time, and don't always make me worry..."
The queen drooped her eyelids slightly tiredly, her voice became softer and softer, and she gradually fell asleep.
The emperor sat quietly beside the bed, looking at the woman he had loved all his life. Those eyes, which had been gradually eroded by the emperor's demeanor, finally revealed the pure love that had been there for so many years.
There was a hint of tears in his eyes.
"Okay, I'll listen to you."
He gathered the thin quilt for his wife and walked out of the inner chamber with light steps. When he passed by the maid in charge of Fengming Palace, the emperor stopped.
"Where is the medicinal food that the Queen prepared for me?"
"It's warming on the stove."
"Bring it here."
"yes."
Qing Liu skillfully walked to the side hall, brought back the food box, and waited for the emperor to finish his meal with an expressionless face. Then, as she watched the emperor walk away, this woman who had been silent and dull for half her life suddenly felt very sad.
It was obvious that when I first started serving my master, they were such a loving and well-matched couple. However, over the past twenty years, people's hearts have changed and everything has changed beyond recognition.
The emperor returned to Qianyuan Hall, and the steward Wang who followed him skillfully took out a green jade bottle from the secret cabinet behind him, bent down and came to the emperor's side, poured out a pill and helped his master take it.
The hall was silent, save for the sound of swallowing. After setting down the teacup, the emperor picked up a handkerchief and wiped the water stains from the corners of his lips.
"Is there any progress with Doctor Sun?"
Manager Wang bent his waist even more and reported cautiously.
"There's no new information yet. I guess they're still considering it."
The emperor put the handkerchief back into the tray without saying anything, as if it was just a casual question.
"Go, call the prince over."
"As you wish."
Steward Wang retreated with extremely light footsteps. The emperor sat on the dragon throne with a calm expression, reviewing memorials as usual. He would occasionally cough uncontrollably, then calmly toss the bloodstained handkerchief into the wooden box beneath the imperial desk.
By the time the Crown Prince arrived, it was already about half an hour later. The Emperor had assigned him so much work during this period that he was practically going crazy. Upon hearing the Emperor's summons, he had already rushed over as quickly as he could.
"I'm late, please forgive me, Father!"
He came in very politely and knelt down to apologize. The emperor did not stop writing, but just made a "hmm" sound.
"Get up, sit down and talk."
"yes."
The prince stood up from the ground, and Steward Wang served him some tea and snacks before quietly retreating to the door. Only the most honorable pair of father and son, monarch and minister, of Dayu were left in the hall.
After reviewing the memorial in his hand, the emperor put down his pen and looked at the prince.
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